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When Frank finally put down the scissors, I exhaled slowly and shared a look with Dan. A blob of jelly dripped off the end of his nose.

Frank clicked his tongue again and jerked his head toward the corner of the room. Beans obeyed, slinking over there, snapping his fingers again as he went. Frank followed.

The moment they stepped away from Dan’s head, I rushed forward to grab it, cradling it protectively to my chest. Then I snatched up the scissors for extra protection. As I backed away, keeping my eyes fixed on the pair, I hurriedly fumbled with the tape to pull it off and get the sock out of his mouth.

“I’m going to fucking murder you both,” Dan roared the moment it was gone. “Rafe, turn me so I can see them.”

I silently obeyed, spinning his head in my hands so he faced the pair.

“Fuck you,” he yelled. “Fuck both of you.”

“We were going to make you look better,” Frank muttered sullenly, crossing his spindly arms.

Beans began to utter, “The perfect heee—”

“Stop fucking saying that!” Dan bellowed. “Rafe is right—there’s something fucking wrong with you two.”

“We’re just living our truth, conformist pig.” Beans karate-chopped the air. “Yah!”

Dan’s head was vibrating with fury in my hands. “I’m going to—”

“Okay, this isn’t—” I backed away toward the door. “Let’s just go find Holt.”

Beans started growling as Frank shot me a betrayed look. “You said you wouldn’t!”

“Of course we’re going to tell Holt,” I exploded, cradling Dan’s head tighter to my chest. “You stole his fucking head!”

I gripped the scissors tighter in my hand, not entirely sure what I would actually do with them, as Frank and Beans stared at me blankly. Then Frank sighed and looked at Beans.

“Beans, I think our sausage is cooked,” he said, making my brows pinch in confusion as I backed out of the door. “You know what that means.”

“It’s time,” Beans answered solemnly.

Time? Time for what? I wasn’t going to stick around to fucking find out. The moment I was in the hall, I turned and started running, but skidded to a halt when Holt and Taylor rounded the corner.

Taylor jumped at the sight of us. Holt just took a long, slurping sip through the straw of his giant soda cup as he eyed us. He tilted the cup toward Dan’s head. “There’s a dick on your cheek.”

“What, uh… were you guys doing?” Taylor asked hesitantly.

“It was them,” Dan snarled. “Fucking Frank and Beans. I fell asleep in my dressing room and they stole my head again. Rafe found us and stopped them from cutting my hair.”

Holt sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as Taylor frowned heavily and said, “Oh dear. Sorry, Dan.”

“I have to fire them, don’t I?” Holt asked.

“Of course you fucking do,” I snapped, too angry to care that I was speaking that way to my boss. “It’s physical assault.”

Holt was nodding emphatically. “No, I know, I just…” He fidgeted and whined, “They kind of scare me.”

“Well you’re the boss, so you have to do it.” I carefully tucked Dan’s head under my arm so I could point to the door at the end of the hall. “They’re in there.”

Holt froze, eyes flicking nervously in that direction. “I have to do it now?”

“Yes,” I snapped. “We can’t trust them to be in the building.”

He fidgeted again, his throat bobbing. Taylor gave him a reassuring smile and eased the giant soda cup out of his hand.

“You can do it, honey.” He briefly squeezed Holt’s arm.